Local roundup: Hermiston’s Hottman takes fourth at state in the discus

Published 8:00 pm Saturday, May 25, 2024

TACOMA — Hermiston senior Bradley Hottman placed fourth in the discus at the 3A State Track and Field Meet on Saturday, May 25, making him the lone Bulldog to earn a spot on the awards podium at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Hermiston coach Emilee Strot said. “He competed well. He matched his PR on his first throw which was good because he hadn’t PR’d this year. He was sixth, then on his last throw he bumped up to fourth.”

In the finals, Hottman threw personal best 161-04 on his final throw of the competition to sneak past Southridge’s Carson Condie (160-02), who was fifth.

Hottman tied his previous personal best of 157-1 on his first throw, which easily put him in the finals.

Also Saturday, Jaysen Rodriguez ran a personal best 1:54.66 to place ninth in the 800 meters. He also broke his own school record of 1:55.78, which he shared with Alex Ring (2007).

Rodriguez also has the school records in the 3,200 (9:22.69) and the 1,600 (4:21.05).

“When you walk away from state with a PR, you have to be happy with that,” Strot said. “We had two ninth places this weekend, which is the toughest place to be in. You just miss out on the podium.”

Girls tennis

Irrigon’s Leah Mueller and Claire Mueller reached the consolation finals of the 4A/3A/2A/1A state tennis tournament at Oregon State University in Corvallis, but fell short against Catlin Gabel’s Jiya Mehta and Elise Kim 6-2, 6-3.

It was the best finish by an Irrigon team or player in program history.

“That was super exciting,” Knights coach Katrina VanderPloeg said. “They have a lot of chemistry on the court. This is Claire’s first year playing tennis.”

To reach the consolation finals, the Muellers beat Christina Nguyen and Taylor Murphy of Marist Catholic 8-6.

Leah Mueller, a senior, went to state last year in doubles with Melissa Leon.

The Knights took two doubles teams to state, but freshmen Alexis Ewing and Samantha Yates went 0-2.

The Knights, who are in Special District 4 with the likes of Sisters, Crook County and The Dalles, made it further than any of their district partners.

3A STATE TOURNAMENT — Hermiston sophomores Aspyn Inners and Cate Doherty had a short stay at the Vancouver Tennis Center in Vancouver, Washington, dropping both of their matches Friday.

Inners and Doherty lost their first match to Addison Smith and Maja Gowans of Seattle Prep 6-0, 6-0, and dropped into the consolation bracket.

There, they ran into Kiera Hays and Devyn Hoppe of Mead, who came away with a hard-fought 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 victory to advance.

Boys tennis

Weston-McEwen’s Trysten Burns fell short of a state medal when he lost his consolation semifinal match 8-2 to Rand Freres of Oregon Espicopal on Saturday morning.

“A great way to finish a strong junior season,” W-M coach Troy Olson said. “We are looking forward to his senior year and a return to state to further his growth and success.”